One of the biggest selling lines at the Wild Beer Company’s new Bristol bar this summer has been a beer called Sleeping Lemons (£2.59 for 330ml, Beerhawk; 3.6% abv), a punchy, sharp, slightly salty brew flavoured with preserved lemons. Perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the brewery’s reputation for oddball brews made with natural yeasts (Sleeping Lemons is based on an obscure style called a gose, a salty style of sour beer historically made in Leipzig), but its popularity reflects the growing interest in sour beers.
What constitutes a sour is hard to pin down these days. Traditionally, all beers would have been sour (that is, naturally fermented) and the technique can be used for almost any style. There are also a lot of experimental crossover styles such as the (really delicious) sour Belgian porter that was on tap at the recent Small Bar Sour Fest in Bristol, a collaboration between Small Bar’s own microbrewery, Left Handed Giant, and Beavertown in London.
While sour beers have always been popular in Germany and Belgium, a lot of British brewers are now playing around with them. A good starting point is a fruit beer such as Elgood’s vibrant Coolship Fruit (£3.95, Beautiful Beers; 5% abv), which is flavoured with raspberries and blackberries, or with lighter styles such as a gose or a Berliner weisse, another refreshingly tart, low-alcohol wheat beer. The Chorlton Brewing Company in Manchester makes a good one of those, and is just one brewery now noted for its sours (all its beers are unfiltered, unpasteurised and unfined). I loved its cleverly balanced Amarillo Sour (£2.70, Ales by Mail; or indies such as Chester Beer & Wine; 5.4% abv), in which the souring takes the edge of the sweet fruitiness of the amarillo hop, giving a really refreshing finish.
For the cooler days ahead, richer, barrel-aged sour beers such as Wild Beer Co’s Modus Operandi (£3.55, Amazon; £4.10 Ales by Mail; 7% abv) should appeal; it’s aged in red wine and bourbon barrels. The White Hag’s Beann Gulban Irish Heather Sour (£2.70 Borough Wines; 7.5% abv) should also go down a treat: it’s big, malty and, as the name suggests, heathery, and would go well with game.
To me, the interest in sour beers reflects a reaction against some oversweet, cloying craft brews we’ve seen in the last few years, in much the same way as many wine drinkers have gone off overextracted reds. They may even be an entry point into beer if you’re not already a fan – after all, if you like sourdough and natural wines, you’re already halfway there.
